My name is Sei Minamuuji, 17 years old. Favorite subjects are history, mathematics, and music. Friend circle is not wide, but enough, even though some of them are pretty useless. Appearance? I think it is acceptable.

 

Today was the entrance ceremony of my sophomore year in high school. It also marked the one-year commemoration of a very important date in human history, a day that was made into history not long ago, but its impact is not overshadowed by any other defining moments of humanity.

 

The day that the armistice concluded our first war against the demons was signed.

 

Crazy, right? To think an RPG cliché like white-skinned magic-wielding humanoids with horns on their heads would someday, after thousands of years without a single sight, randomly appeared out of nowhere, and they are just on the other side of the sea from mainland Japan, separated from us by only a small body of water.

 

The whole thing at first seemed like a complicated joke pulled out by some dudes with too much free time at their disposal. The internet was swarmed with pictures of these ‘demons’, many of them were just exorbitantly beautiful girls with horns, and most netizens jokingly said that this was just a secret government project to produce real-life ‘anime’ girls. Some of them even organized themselves into groups in order to storm the supposed demon lands ‘on a holy quest to find their horned demon waifu’ - as they proudly announced on social media.

 

It was not until the first group that did venture forth to put an end to this ‘demons’ joke never returned home, did the world started to notice something amiss.

 

The territorial loss of humanity, after four years of gruesome warfare in the frozen wasteland of Siberia, was minimal. But it might very well be the first domino to fall in a chain of others, in which the last one might spell the end of humankind.

 

And now, our governments wanted a diplomatic solution with those … monsters. They were granted lands right on mainland Japan, and their princess, apparent they copied our old feudal system, were going to attend the same school as us. 

 

If only I could laugh at all these absurdities, then I would laugh until my throat is burned. But laughing on the blood of over ten million dead soldiers, many of whom are Japanese, just does not sit very well with anyone, does it?

 

I heaved a heavy sigh and turned to my left side. Sitting next to me was a skinny guy with heavy-rimmed black glasses, browsing his social media with a serious expression.

 

Even if he looked serious, the content on his phone doesn’t contain an ounce of seriousness.

 

Eye-level shots, low angle shots, hip-level shots, knee shots, pictures of all angles swarmed his social media feed, and it kept increasing every time he refreshed. There is even some daring approach at a panty shot, but it seemed they did not try hard enough.

 

“Hey, Sei, which one do you prefer, huh?”

 

Suddenly, he nudged me and showed me a frontal shot of two girls. One was in our school uniform, and the other was in some kind of maid cosplay. They were, objectively speaking, beautiful to the point of being unfair towards the other girls, especially the silver-haired girl in school uniform. Her somber demeanor and aloofness made it somewhat irresistible to keep your eyes away from her. Still objectively speaking, she looked totally like a closet sl*t. 

 

“Which one is the princess?”, I casually asked.

 

He showed me a puzzled expression.

 

“Why, you ask? Of course it is the silver-haired goddess!”

 

“Goddess?”

 

“Yes! I am the spiritual leader of the newly founded religion that worshiped Demon Princess-sama. We wholeheartedly devoted our lives and energy to Her Highness’ well-being!”

 

He puffed out his chest in pride.

 

At this moron’s statement, I could not help but sneer.

“I don’t think she needs any more devotion; after all”, I paused for a moment, “over ten million people have done that already.”

 

“...”

 

“Also, aren’t you the student council’s president? Do you really have time for other, ehh, ‘club activities’?”

 

“...”

 

“If you still want to devote your life to her, I think you are free to do so. I am just afraid she will take it in the literal meaning.”

 

“...”

 

His face twisted weirdly as if he was swallowing a bug. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh and slumped back onto his chair. 

 

“Man, you are no fun, Sei. I believe this princess is not the same as other demons. There was no report on her throughout the war, which means she did not participate in it. Maybe, among her aggressive, bloodthirsty kinsmen, she was a pacifist at heart.”

 

“... you are being biased aren’t you, Yuji?”

 

“Just a little … maybe.”

 

There is no use arguing further with this idiot, he might even sell his friend out if it’s for that demon girl. I wonder why such a skirt chaser like him could even become the student council president …

 

I slumped back into my chair while Yuji was still going at the newly updated photos. 

 

But still, a princess, huh …  I wonder if she could even study at all when our school was one of the best in Japan … Do demons even know how to do basic arithmetic?  Rather, what is the point for her to do something like studying in a human school at all? Damn, dad would not leak a single thing to me about this ...

 

Immersed in my own thoughts, I did not pay any heed to the sound of footsteps coming closer to my seat. It’s about time for the opening ceremony, after all. This little ceremony hall is soon to be swarmed with people.

 

“I’m sorry for asking but, is this the seat row for scholarship students?”

 

Suddenly, a crystal-clear voice cut through the continuous stream of white noise in the ceremony hall. At the same time, the sound of footsteps stopped, right behind my back.